NEW YORK, NY.- Philippe Vergne, director of Dia Art Foundation, today announced the appointment of Yasmil Raymond as curator, effective September 2009. Ms. Raymond is currently associate curator, visual arts, at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. She succeeds Lynne Cooke, curator from 1991 to 2009, who now serves in an honorary capacity as Dia’s curator at large. Since Summer 2008, Ms. Cooke has been deputy director and chief curator at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.

As curator, Ms. Raymond will organize exhibitions and public programs, including lectures, screenings, and performances. These are presented at Dia:Beacon, located in the Hudson Valley region of New York State, as well as at The Hispanic Society of America, in New York City, where Dia presents exhibitions through a multi-year partnership between the two organizations; and at the Dan Flavin Art Institute, on Long Island. She will also work with Mr. Vergne and Dia’s staff and board on the development of a long-range plan for Dia.

Dia Chairman Nathalie de Gunzburg states, “Dia’s Trustees are thrilled that Yasmil Raymond has agreed to join Dia Art Foundation as our new curator. Yasmil will bring great intellect, a superb eye, and excellent professional experience to Dia’s collection and program. During her tenure at the Walker, she made significant contributions to the field, and we are impressed with her commitment to international artists across generations, seen in both her exhibitions and collection projects.

When Lynne Cooke assumed the position of chief curator and deputy director at the Reina Sofia last year, she assured us that she would stay close to Dia. Over the last eighteen years, she has helped to make Dia one of the world’s leading organizations devoted to modern and contemporary art, and we are delighted that she will remain affiliated with the institution.”

Philippe Vergne adds, “I am exceptionally pleased that Yasmil Raymond will soon begin work as Dia’s curator, building on the remarkable achievements of Lynne Cooke. Yasmil is one of the most rigorous and passionate curators with whom I have had the privilege of working. Her wide-ranging interests and deep knowledge of art, as well as her commitment to artists and audiences, made her the perfect candidate for the job. This is a tremendously important moment for Dia, and I know that Yasmil will add greatly to our discussions as we plan for the future.”

Lynne Cooke says, “I have the greatest respect for Yasmil’s curatorial work. She has an extensive knowledge of contemporary art and a strongly independent curatorial voice. I think she will bring a fresh and challenging vision to Dia.”

Yasmil Raymond says, “It is an immense privilege for me to accept this position. I am grateful to Dia and, specifically, to Lynne Cooke for their vision and their resolute determination to serve artists and honor the direct experience of their work. I look forward to working with Philippe and Dia’s staff to continue this effort, enabling the realization and preservation of ambitious projects. I am also indebted to the remarkable artists with whom I have collaborated at the Walker Art Center these past five years. I am very happy to bring this experience to Dia and to join its staff in imagining a new chapter in Dia’s history.”

Yasmil Raymond
Yasmil Raymond has worked at the Walker Art Center since 2004, beginning as a curatorial fellow for diversity in the arts, and moving on to assistant curator and then associate curator, visual arts. At the Walker, she has organized an exhibition of work by Tomás Saraceno, opening May 14, 2009, and is additionally curator of Abstract Resistance. Opening in February 2010, the latter will bring together works by now-legendary figures with a younger generation of artists to consider the metaphor of “resistance” as a complex formal and political force. Highlights among previous projects include: Statements: Joseph Beuys, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd (curator, 2008–09); Tino Sehgal, (curator, 2007–08); Brave New Worlds (co-curator with Doryun Chong, 2008); the award-winning Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love (in collaboration with Philippe Vergne, 2007); and Andy Warhol/Supernova: Stars, Deaths, and Disasters, 1962–64 (assistant curator, with Douglas Fogle, 2005).

Prior to joining the Walker, Ms. Raymond held various research and programming positions, including serving as a research intern at the Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois and at the Renaissance Society of the University of Chicago, and as coordinator of public programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. She has published articles and catalogue essays, lectured widely, and served as guest critic on numerous occasions. In 2004 Ms. Raymond received the Monique Beudert Curatorial Award, given by the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, among other honors.

Yasmil Raymond received her B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1999) and her M.A. from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (2004), Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

Lynne Cooke
In addition to serving as Dia’s curator for eighteen years, Lynne Cooke has taught and lectured at numerous schools in the United States and Europe, including London University, Yale University, and Bard College, and has participated in panels and symposia internationally. She has written numerous essays and exhibition catalogues, and is a frequent contributor to such publications as Artforum, The Burlington Magazine, and Parkett. She has organized exhibitions for institutions worldwide, including the 1997 Sydney Biennale, and co-curated the 1991 Carnegie International. In 2000 Ms. Cooke was awarded the Independent Curators International Agnes Gund Curatorial Award.